With Jean's help I put everything back in my car and we drove to a coffee shop, where I had not-so-great hot chocolate and some goodies. Jean had a coffee. The coffee shop was very crowded, so we sat at a large table occupied by others. There was no shortage of entertainment here!!! LOL An older guy and a younger guy with a wool hat were sitting next to us, and some women who obviously all knew each other and probably frequented this place were on the other side of us. The older man spent about 20 minutes talking with us, and of course, involved the younger one. They have a place in Maine, so when we want to go lobstering, we can give them a call... LOL There were some interesting stories shared and then we said goodbye to them, and then to each other.
Instead of Toronto, I was headed back to WI to try to get a new birth certificate and passport in record time. It was already 11:30 AM, and New York had a 2 hour delay trying to cross the George Washington bridge (construction and New York are not a good combination), but I drove from Rhode Island to Indiana that day, and then finished the trip in time to get to Madison for the new birth certificate by 8:30 AM. In typical WI fashion, it was cold, wet, and gray. Clouds hung low in the sky all day, not letting the sun poke through. I made it home by noon with the new birth certificate to see the family and was excited to see Lisa already there! Appointment was made for Monday at 9 Am in Chicago for the new passport. Just needed to book a plane ticket and print the itinerary (they don't accept driving there as proof of travel) and get the rest of my documentation together. Done! :)
Picture of dad and I with our family in the background - very old picture but all 9 of us are in it! :)
I unpacked most of the belongings from my car and put a heater and extra blankie on my bed to ensure a warm night... Saturday morning I talked Dad into going to the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Waukesha. We arrived about 30 minutes early and watched the camera men set up in the back. We were about 10 rows from the front, and it filled up fast, with the overflow having to watch from the big screen TV in the next room. With the WI primary coming up in a few days, we heard from Gingrich, Santorum, and Romney. Then we heard from Congressman Paul Ryan from WI, who was endorsing Romney. Each of the candidates (most likely due to the nature of the event) stressed religious freedom. The only candidate I was disappointed in was Santorum, who made 3 negative remarks toward Romney. Everyone else clearly stated the differences between the 2 parties and what the republicans were going to do differently. I don't believe Dad is a Republican, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. See if you can find Dad in the 2nd picture! :)
Following the speeches, we met up with Susie and her boyfriend Luke at a Chinese restaurant for lunch. My fortune cookie was very fitting. LOL
Saturday night we met Shelly's kids and went to St. Bernards to go roller skating - something I haven't done in many, many, many years. I thought I would fall and took advantage of the kids by holding their hands for balance. :) By the end of the night I was so proud of myself! Racing around at normal speeds by myself. LOL The pictures are a bit blurry, so you can't really make us out. I guess I could lie and tell you all we were skating so quickly that we were nothing more than a blur. Unfortunately, it's just a poor quality camera I have and cannot handle moving pictures. LOL
Sunday reminded me about spring in WI. It was cold enough to warrant a jacket, but not freezing. The tulips were starting to show off their colors and the trees had small leaves filling them out. I walked over to my mom's place (just a few blocks away) and you could smell the burning of leaves and delicious meat being cooked outdoors - WI BBQ style. A neighbor's garage had a Green Bay Packer flag blowing lightly in the breeze.
My mom (knowing me well) had the heat on in all rooms, so it was toasty warm when I got there. I'm sure she was dying of heat and appreciate the gesture. She then showed me all the tricks that she taught her 2 rats - I mean dogs - to do. (Only kidding Mom!) I am not joking here, her 2 dogs are named Be-bop and Gummy Bear, and her last dog was called Lollipop (who knew how to bark "I love you"). I always get it confused and call them "Gumdrop" and "Licorice". Regardless of their names, the tricks they performed were pretty cool and included twirling around, laying down and rolling over, sitting up on 2 feet, and shaking. This is their sitting up pose. Getting them both to do it at the same time and hold it took a little effort (you can see one falling down in the second photo). But before long they had it down and enjoyed the treat that followed.
Mom, Tom, and I then went to out old hangout spot, El Greco, for dinner. It's right by Timmerman airport, and you can see the great view we had out our window watching the sun go down. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment